Griffey, Piazza Elected To Baseball Hall Of Fame

January 7, 2016

Outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. and catcher Mike Piazza make up the 2016 Class for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. "The Kid" received a record 99.3-percent of the vote, being named on all but three ballots by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Tom Seaver held the previous record, garnering 98.8-percent of the vote in 1992. Piazza received 83-percent of the vote, with 75-percent required for election. The two will be inducted Sunday, July 24th in Cooperstown, New York.

Griffey broke into the big leagues with the Seattle Mariners in 1989 at the age of 19. He played 22 seasons in all and was a 13-time All-Star, 10-time Gold Glove winner and the 1997 American League MVP. Griffey spent his first 11 seasons with Seattle before being traded to Cincinnati prior to the 2000 season. He played eight-plus years for the Reds before being traded to the Chicago White Sox. He finished with career with Seattle, retiring in 2010 at the age of 40. Griffey was a career .284 hitter and ranks sixth on the all-time home run list with 630. His 1,836 career runs batted in rank 15th all-time.

Piazza started his big league career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1992 and earned National League Rookie ofthe Year honors in 1993 in his first full season. He went on to become a 12-time All-Star. Piazza played 16 seasons in all with the Dodgers, New York Mets, San Diego Padres and Oakland A's, retiring after the 2007 season. He was a career .308 hitter with 427 home runs and 1,335 RBI. His 396 home runs as a catcher is an all-time record.